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Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures Looks for Co-Investors
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By Yuliya Chernova, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Bill Gates is in the news lately with his new book “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.” One of the tools he’s using to address the climate problem is investing in the venture fund he spearheaded called Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
In January, BEV raised more than $1 billion for its second fund. It led a $30 million Series B in geothermal startup Dandelion Energy, one of the first investments out of the new fund, according to Carmichael Roberts, who is on BEV’s investment committee and also runs another fund, Material Impact.
BEV has an unusual structure for venture capital. It’s got a 20-year investment horizon for the fund, versus the 10 years typical in venture, in order to provide long-term capital for the types of science-heavy deals it backs.
Its limited partners are very wealthy individuals—such as Vinod Khosla, John Doerr, Jeff Bezos, and others—committed to the climate-change cause. New investors in the second fund also include Abigail P. Johnson, chairman and chief executive of Fidelity Investments, and Tobias Lütke, founder and chief executive of Shopify. These investors may be more willing to risk money or accept a longer time to get their money back, as long as progress is being made on climate issues, according to a recent WSJ Magazine article.
BEV is emphasizing co-investor syndicates for its deals. But while BEV is structured to help it cope well with the unique problems of climate investments, its co-investors are often traditional venture firms with their own traditional-venture constraints on investment time-horizon and have financial LPs to answer to.
"We like to think that our longer-term investment horizon is actually attractive for other investors,” Mr. Roberts said. “We prefer to lead the rounds when we participate and it's reassuring to know that we are in it for the long journey,” he said, adding that many of BEV’s companies may have shorter time frames to exit.
As BEV expands its activity with a new fund, its success may hinge on its ability to persuade other investors to come along for the ride.
And now on to the news...
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Lucid employs nearly 2,000 employees in the U.S., and plans to add another 3,000 by the end of 2022. PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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SPAC Deal. Fledgling electric vehicle company Lucid Motors Inc. has agreed to go public by merging with special-purpose acquisition company Churchill Capital Corp IV in one of the largest ever deals involving a SPAC, Eliot Brown and Ben Foldy report for The Wall Street Journal. The deal would inject $4.4 billion into the Bay Area-based auto maker and value Lucid at $24 billion, an enormous amount for a company that has yet to begin production of its first car.
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Lucid Chief Executive Peter Rawlinson said the company is going public “to accelerate into the next phase of our growth.” The company plans to begin deliveries of its first car, a $169,000 super-luxury all-electric sedan called the Air, in the second half of this year, the company said Monday.
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The deal shows the extraordinary appetite among stock investors for SPACs, particularly anything relating to electric vehicles. Amid the soaring value of Tesla Inc.’s shares in the past year, investors have rushed into startups in the sector.
Related: Enovix Set to Go Public Through a SPAC
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WeWork Co-Founder Adam Neumann Nears Settlement With SoftBank
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WeWork co-founder and former Chief Executive Adam Neumann is in advanced talks to settle a high-profile legal fight with SoftBank Group Corp. by agreeing to a nearly $500 million cut in his payout from the shared-office-space company’s new owner, a move that would help clear the way for WeWork’s second attempt at a public listing, Maureen Farrell and Eliot Brown report for the Journal.
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K1 Investment Backs Latest Israeli Deal With $25 Million Atera Bet
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Software-focused K1 Investment Management LLC has invested $25 million in an Israeli software and services company that helps businesses manage and monitor their information technology operations, Preeti Singh reports for WSJ Pro. K1 took a minority stake in Atera Networks Ltd. with plans to help the Tel Aviv-based company support product development, increase its marketing and expand geographically, according to the growth investment firm. Manhattan Beach, Calif-based K1 is the first institutional investor in the company, according to Senior Vice President Roy Liao.
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Funds
Neotribe Ventures is raising $100 million for its Neotribe Ignite Fund I LP, according to a regulatory filing. The firm, with offices in San Francisco and Menlo Park, Calif., recently invested in remote access startup Infiot and multicloud serverless development platform Vendia.
People
Money management app Even Responsible Finance Inc. named David Baga as chief executive. Mr. Baga joins the company from Lightspeed Venture Partners, where he was chief operating officer. Oakland, Calif.-based Even is backed by investors including Khosla Ventures, Valar Ventures, Allen & Co., Harrison Metal, Ron Conway, Silicon Valley Bank and Bull City Venture Partners.
Exits
Publicly traded cybersecurity and compliance company Proofpoint Inc. agreed to purchase data loss protection managed services provider InteliSecure Inc. for $62.5 million in cash. Greenwood Village, Colo.-based InteliSecure is backed by investors including Level Equity and Frontier Growth.
Online design platform Canva acquired realistic product mockup generator Smartmockups and visual AI platform Kaleido.ai. Terms weren’t disclosed. In June 2020, Sydney-based Canva raised a $60 million round at a $6 billion valuation from Blackbird Ventures, Sequoia Capital China, Bond, Felicis Ventures and General Catalyst.
Active lifestyle content creator Pocket Outdoor Media raised an undisclosed amount of Series B funding and acquired Outside Integrated Media, Outside TV, Gaia GPS, athleteReg and Peloton magazine. Sequoia Heritage, JAZZ Ventures, Zone 5 Ventures and NEXT Ventures provided the Series B investment. Alongside the new funding and acquisitions, Boulder, Colo.-based Pocket Outdoor Media has rebranded as Outside.
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Highspot Inc., a Seattle-based sales software platform, closed a $200 million Series E round led by Tiger Global Management that values the company at $2.3 billion. New investor Bain & Co. also participated in the funding, along with existing backers Iconiq Growth, Madrona Venture Group, OpenView, Salesforce Ventures, Sapphire Ventures and Shasta Ventures.
Anuvia Plant Nutrients, a Winter Garden, Fla.-based startup that uses organic materials to make fertilizers, grabbed $103 million in Series C funding. TPG Alternative & Renewable Technologies and Pontifax Global Food and Agriculture Technology Fund co-led the round, which included additional investment from Generate Capital and Piva Capital.
Regor Therapeutics, a Boston- and Shanghai-based developer of medicines to treat cancer, immune disorders and metabolic diseases, snagged a $90 million Series B round. Lilly Asia Ventures led the funding, and was joined by Loyal Valley Capital, Lanting Capital, TF Capital and Vertex Ventures China.
Earnix, an Israeli provider of rating, pricing and product personalization services for the insurance and banking industries, landed $75 million in growth funding at a pre-money valuation of $1 billion. Insight Partners led the investment, which included participation from Jerusalem Venture Partners, Vintage Partners and Israel Growth Partners. Jonathan Rosenbaum, principal at Insight, joined the company’s board.
Ageras Group, an accounting software platform, picked up a $73 million investment from Lugard Road Capital. Investcorp Technology Partners and Rabo Frontier Ventures previously invested in Ageras Group.
Creatio, a Boston-based low-code platform for process management and customer relationship management, landed a $68 million investment. Volition Capital led the round, with participation from Horizon Capital.
Splice, a New York cloud-based platform for music creation and collaboration, secured $55 million in Series D financing. Goldman Sachs Growth led the round, which included additional support from Music. Union Square Ventures, True Ventures, DFJ Growth and Flybridge previously invested in Splice. Kakul Srivastava, vice president of Adobe Creative Cloud Experience & Engagement, joined the board.
Foxtrot Market, a Chicago-based startup offering a curated corner store delivery service, nabbed a $42 million Series B growth investment. Almanac Insights and Monogram Capital Partners led the round, which included contributions from Imaginary Ventures, Wittington Ventures, Fifth Wall, Lerer Hippeau, Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, M3 Ventures, University of Chicago, Collaborative Fund, Wasson Enterprise, Bluestein Ventures and Barshop Ventures. Additionally, the company appointed Sumi Ghosh as chief operating officer.
Atera, a Tel Aviv-based remote-first IT management platform, fetched a $25 million investment from K1 Investment Management.
Borrowell, a Toronto-based startup offering free credit scores, education and weekly credit monitoring, raised $25 million in funding. New investors Kensington Capital Partners, BDC Capital, iA Financial Group and Impact Engine were joined by previous backers Portag3 Ventures, White Star Capital, National Bank of Canada’s NAventures and Equitable Bank in the round. In addition to the new investment, Borrowell has completed the acquisition of personal credit builder Refresh Financial.
Nanit, a New York-based developer of a smart baby monitor and sleep tracker, closed a $25 million Series C round. GV led the investment, with Partner Frederique Dame joining the board. Existing backers Jerusalem Venture Partners, Upfront Ventures, RRE Ventures and Rho Capital Partners also participated in the round.
EquityBee, a Palo Alto, Calif.- and Tel Aviv-based company that helps startup employees exercise or finance stock options before they expire, scored $20 million in Series A financing. Group 11 led the round, which saw participation from Oren Zeev Ventures, Battery Ventures and ICON Continuity Fund.
Heyday, a New York-based skincare company, secured $20 million in Series B financing. Level 5 Capital Partners led the round, with additional support from Lerer Hippeau and Fifth Wall. The company also hired Maureen Sullivan as president. She was previously president and chief operating officer at Rent The Runway.
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Roblox announced last month that it had raised more than a half-billion dollars at a valuation of $29.5 billion. PHOTO: EMILY FLYNN/SHUTTERSTOCK
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